Looking Ahead to 2023

 Happy New Year, everyone! After lots of holiday preparation and celebration, I'm ready to dive into the new year with gusto. This year our theme for Eden By The Bay is "The Roaring Twenties". We've all been through a lot the past several years (and still have a bumpy road ahead as the world economy and political systems play out the latest trends). In the same way that the roaring twenties of the 1900s provided relief following years of war, sacrifice, and the flu epidemic (and preceded The Great Depression and another war), I'm claiming this year to celebrate the roaring twenties of the 2000s! 

Instead of advocating bathtub gin, speakeasies, or wild flapper parties, I'm promoting rest and contemplation, time in gardens and the natural world, and making connections with our fellow humans (despite our differences)!

Clockwise: Evaluating plants for our home landscaping project
Birth month flowers from the florist or grocery store
Dyeing and printing with indigo
Exploring more parks and gardens

In that spirit, I don't have a lot planned, but have a few ideas:

• Take our home landscaping project to the next level, working with professionals who specialize in native plants and the local climate.
• Get back to the adventure of exploring gardens and parks, both nearby and further afield. Watch for interesting plants, birds, and wildlife that populate them.
• Enjoy the beauty and meaning of birthday month flowers. Celebrate friends and family with flowers, and see if traditional flower meanings match their personalities!
• Try dyeing with indigo, a historically important dye. What makes indigo different from other dyes we've used, and how can we use indigo to transfer color?
• Learn about a few plant hunters in the western United States (the Linnaeus apostles missed western North America as they explored the plants of the world)!

After several years of dormancy, I'm looking forward to reemerging and enjoying life. Hope you'll join me on the journey, as we reclaim our lives (with sensible caution) and reinvent them as we move forward!